Xu Shuzheng (1880-1925), the top military advisor under Duan Qirui of the famous Beiyang warlord Anhui clique, gained fame in November 1919 when he forced Outer Mongolia to revoke its autonomy and return it to the jurisdiction of the central government. Big earthquake. Unfortunately, Xu Shuzheng was killed by his men assigned by Feng Yuxiang at Langfang Station in Hebei Province in 1925.
So, why did Feng Yuxiang kill Xu Shuzheng? What hatred do the two have? What caused Feng Yuxiang to openly kill a young and promising Beiyang general?
To analyze the grievances between the two of them, we have to talk about one more person, an old man from Beiyang who participated in Yuan Shikai's military training at the small station - Lu Jianzhang. In 1912, he served as the staff officer of the guard army of Yuan Shikai's presidential palace, and later changed to the guard army. The commander and director of the Beijing Military and Political Law Enforcement Department is a powerful figure.
Feng Yuxiang participated in leading the Luanzhou Uprising in his early years and was escorted to Beijing after the failure. At that time, Lu Jianzhang was the director of law enforcement. He admired Feng Yuxiang's conduct and training methods. Not only did he not convict him, but after releasing Feng Yuxiang, he also married his niece to Feng Yuxiang.
Later, when Yuan Shikai formed his own Yulin Army, he ordered Lu Jianzhang to train five battalions, and Lu Jianzhang appointed Feng Yuxiang as the commander of the 2nd Battalion. Later, after Lu Jianzhang became the governor of Shaanxi, he was promoted to Feng Yuxiang as the commander of the 16th Mixed Brigade. It can be said that Lu Jianzhang single-handedly promoted Feng Yuxiang from his beginning. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is Feng Yuxiang's great benefactor.
In early 1918, during the Anhui-Zhizhi War, because Lu Jianzhang belonged to the Beiyang Old Man and had connections with the Beiyang warlords in various provinces, he traveled north and south and tried his best to advocate peace, which aroused the hatred of the Anhui clique.
At that time, the Governor's Corps, which was strongly advocating for peace, was preparing to hold a meeting in Tianjin. President Feng Guozhang secretly instructed Lu Jianzhang's eldest son, Lu Chengwu, to call his father to Tianjin, hoping that he could persuade Cao Kun to change the Governor's Corps meeting. A situation that was beneficial to Feng Guozhang and not beneficial to Duan Qirui.
On June 13, Lu Jianzhang came to Tianjin from Shanghai. As soon as he arrived in Tianjin, Xu Shuzheng wrote a letter inviting him to come to the Fengjun headquarters in Tianjin for an interview. Because Lu Jianzhang was a senior in Beiyang and the current "general", he had no doubts at all and came to the Fengjun headquarters as scheduled the next day.
Xu Shuzheng invited him to talk in a secret room in the garden. As soon as Lu Jianzhang entered, a guard with a gun in his hand appeared at the door, with a fierce expression on his face. Lu Jianzhang knew that something was wrong and wanted to run out, but the gunfire sounded After the sound, Lu Jianzhang was killed directly.
On the day Lu Jianzhang was killed, Xu Shuzheng sent a message asking the Beiyang government to strip Lu Jianzhang of all military positions, honors, and medals. A telegram was also sent, fabricating rumors that Lu Jianzhang was scolding the president and Governor Cao (Cao Kun), pointing out that "as a general, Lu Jianzhang dares to incite the army everywhere and collude with bandits. According to the regulations on punishing bandits, he should be punished immediately." Said that Lu Jianzhang deserved his death.
However, Lu Jianzhang was killed by Xu Shuzheng, which made people feel great fear of Xu Shuzheng. Because Xu Shuzheng was only 39 years old at the time. He and Lu Jianzhang’s eldest son Lu Chengwu were classmates in the sergeant academy. Lu Chengwu’s wife and ?T Shuzheng’s wife were also classmates. The two families had a close relationship. Xu Shuzheng was able to commit such a murder. It can't help but be chilling.
Xu Shuzheng killed a current general "first and later". This was a shocking murder at the time. Powerful generals from all over the country called the Beiyang government one after another: "Lu Jianzhang was invited to attend the military governor's meeting and was killed. He died." Later, he was deprived of his official honors. Where did the generals get protection from then on?" Although the matter was settled under Duan Qirui's protection, it was a serious blow to Duan Qirui's prestige in power.
At this time, after his wife's uncle was killed, Feng Yuxiang was appointed as the garrison envoy to western Hunan and resumed the position of brigade commander. Compared with Duan Qirui's number one military advisor in the Anhui clique, T Shuzheng, There was still a long way to go, so he never mentioned the murder of Lu Jianzhang, pretending as if it didn't happen.
Seven years later, in 1925, Feng Yuxiang had become a prince who could compete with Zhang Zuolin, Wu Peifu, and Duan Qirui for the world.
At the end of the same year, on December 29, Xu Shuzheng, who had just returned from visiting more than a dozen countries including Britain, France, Germany, the Soviet Union, Italy, the United States and Japan, was on his way out of Beijing by train and passed by Langfang Railway Station in Hebei Province. Several unidentified strong men pulled off the train, shot him directly from behind, and died in the wilderness outside the train station. At that time, it was Zhang Zhijiang's subordinate, Commander-in-Chief of the National Army Feng Yuxiang, who controlled the railway station.
References for this article: "Reference on War in the Republic of China"